1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mathematics devices and more specifically it relates to a mathematics teaching system for visually and physically teaching a student how to perform multiplication and division calculations in a simple to understand format.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional mathematics calculation systems have been in use for years. Most conventional mathematics calculation systems focus upon the concept of xe2x80x9cmemorizingxe2x80x9d a specific calculation instead of educating the student to understand the fundamental concepts behind the calculation. For example, conventional mathematics calculation systems teach students to memorize that 4xc3x974=16 instead of teaching them the fundamental concepts behind this calculation. The same applies to division problems such as 16/4=4.
The main problem with conventional mathematics calculation systems is that they are not scalable and therefore do not teach the student how to calculate variations of the memorized calculation. Another problem with conventional mathematics calculation systems is that they require the student to xe2x80x9cmemorizexe2x80x9d numerous calculations which is difficult and unpleasing to many students making learning difficult.
Examples of patented mathematics learning devices which are illustrative of such prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,226 to McGowan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,102 to McGowan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,209 to Thompson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,239 to Butler; U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,484 to Banerjee, Sr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,108 to Marzo; U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,415 to Gariety et al.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for visually and physically teaching a student how to perform multiplication and division calculations in a simple to understand format. Conventional mathematics teaching devices are difficult to utilize and require the student to xe2x80x9cmemorizexe2x80x9d specific mathematic calculations instead of learning the fundamental concepts behind the calculation.
In these respects, the mathematics teaching system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of visually and physically teaching a student how to perform multiplication and division calculations in a simple to understand format.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of mathematic teaching devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new mathematics teaching system construction wherein the same can be utilized for visually and physically teaching a student how to perform multiplication and division calculations in a simple to understand format.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new mathematics teaching system that has many of the advantages of the mathematic teaching devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new mathematics teaching system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art mathematic teaching devices, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a housing having a plurality of apertures aligned in vertical and horizontal rows, an upper opening within the housing for inserting tokens into, a lower opening for allowing tokens to escape, a vertical slot and a horizontal slot within the housing for receiving slider members, a plurality of vertical reference numerals and a plurality of horizontal reference numerals, and a stopper member slidably positioned within a lower portion of the housing for retaining the tokens in a desired location for allowing calculation by a student.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a mathematics teaching system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
A second object is to provide a mathematics teaching system for visually and physically teaching a student how to perform multiplication and division calculations in a simple to understand format.
Another object is to provide a mathematics teaching system that is simple and easy to utilize for most students.
An additional object is to provide a mathematics teaching system that teaches the fundamental concepts of multiplication, division, subtraction and addition calculations.
A further object is to provide a mathematics teaching system that is able to be utilized by visually impaired students.
A further object is to provide a mathematics teaching system that does not require the student to xe2x80x9cmemorizexe2x80x9d specific calculations.
Another object is to provide a mathematics teaching system that provides the student with a scalable learning device for multiplication and division.
A further object is to provide a mathematics teaching system that assists students of all learning capabilities to visualize and manipulate multiplication and division calculations.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.